Triangle Roulette
by WhiteWorms100
Summary: It's been three years since Xavin has left with the Majesdanes. And now she's back ready to be with her long lost love once more. But has Karolina already moved on? Xavin/Karolina fic. Rated T for now but might change later.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! Hi!**

**I'm not usually the one to publish fanfics(especially one for Marvel comics) but I had discovered this comic called Runaways few days ago and I was absolutely hooked!**

**Too bad it was only three volumes long(AND ON HIATUS)**

**But seeing how as Marvel is showing no signs of continuing this awesome series anytime soon, I have decided to write a fanfic about my two favourite characters: Xavin and Koralina.**

**This is my first fic ever! So please bear with me if you find anything wrong with it. And feel free to point out any mistakes or possible improvement that could be made. I do aim to be a good writer in the future and I would love it if people could help me with my vocabs, grammars and whatnot. So please review if you have the time!**

**But please, enjoy the story first(which I hope you do) and Thank You in advance for reading my story.**

**OH! and uhh... THIS!**

**DISCLAIMER: All characters in this story belongs to MARVEL Comics(unless I say otherwise), because if I did the Runaways would be on their 18th volume, and Xavin would have been back way before.**

**Okay time for the story!**

**0 0 0**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

A bright star glimmered in the sky far brighter than any other over the skies of Los Angeles. To most it had been a mere shooting star, but for those who had witnessed enough would have noticed that the star was, in fact, not a star at all, but a ship crashing through the skies, and down to the Earth.

The obviously extraterrestrial ship did not crash as most witness would have thought it would, but hovered over the ground, a barely a meter above it with not a single sound, before landing equally silently. Oddly enough, from the ship stepped out an average, if not gorgeous, African American looking woman donned in a purple suit lined with black armor.

The woman remained silent, as if not to disturb the nature around her, and then grew a faint smirk of what seemed like relief. She turned around, towards her ship, which in turn slowly began to turn transparent until it was no longer visible. Then, as wordlessly as she came, the woman ignited in red flames then flew away into the night sky.

**0 0 0**

* * *

"I can't believe you wanted to come here, Kar." A young redhead said in obvious amusement, sipping at the vanilla latte that sat before her, "I thought you hated Starbucks?"

Her companion looked down at her own long black coffee with a faint smile, "I never hated Starbucks." She stated with a nostalgic tone, "I just never felt like coming here, tis all."

Julie Power looked at her girlfriend in silence, contemplating the answer she was given. Two years was an awfully long time to not feel like' doing something. And one didn't need to know Karolina, much less date her, for two years to know that she was lying. She was terrible at it. One of the many characteristic she loved about her of course, but it was a ted bit unsettling. With a nice girl like Karolina, she had to wonder why the girl needed to lie to her at all. There were several instances during their time together where Karolina had obviously lied about her preferences of films, foods, books and locations of their date. It was clearly no ordinary matter, but the solemn look on her face was so painful to watch, Julie could never ask her the truth, knowing how pure she is she would answer her questions truthfully even if the act caused her pain. No, she could never do that to her. She was content on where they were, how they were: In love. And if there were things so painful that could determine her action, she would wait for Karolina to come out with it when she felt it right. For now all she wanted was to be with her and be happy together.

"So, you guys been up to anything recently?" Julie asked in attempt to pull the blonde's attention away from whatever was on her mind.

As her intentions, the solemn look quickly disappeared from Karonlina's face and was replaced by her usual bright demeanor, "Oh god, you have no idea what we ran into the other day."

"Yeah? What?" Julie smiled, seeing how her girlfriend was back to her happy self.

"You're so not gonna believe it, but: We ran into a talking Duck."

"Oh my god, is this that Duck that ran for presidency that other time?" Karolina nodded vigorously, "Oh wow, that must have been so weird!"

"It was! I mean, there were all these super heroes: She-hulk, Spider man and whatnot but in the middle of that all there was this one... duck! In a suit and everything giving around orders! Being in the super hero business we see a lot of weird things but this one just topped anything we ever saw. Hey, speaking of ducks, I think Klara is cooking one tonight as a special feast. Wanna come along?"

Julie burst into laughter, "You guys are so horrible! Sure I'll come with you." She leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. The slight blush that grew was so cute the redhead couldn't help but giggle.

"Okay, let's go!" Karolina said, immediately getting up.

"But you barely sipped your coffee." Julie retorted, slightly surprised.

"Oh, I don't feel like it today, actually." The reply was a bit faster then she liked. But realizing what the blonde wanted Julie quickly let the issue go and left with her hand in hand.

The winter breeze caressed their face the moment they stepped outside. Already they could feel the light sting of frost around their cheeks.

"You wanna fly there?" Karolina asked with a smirk and Julie stared at her in bewilderment.

"In this weather? We'll freeze up in less than ten seconds if we did that. We'll look like a pair of snowmen by the time we arrive."

"Don't worry, I'll make a barrier before us to stop the wind." She said, watching the redhead with hooded eyes playfully and pulling her into an embrace. "And we'll hug the whole way. To a... share our body temperature."

"You're really a sneaky perv, you know that?" Julie giggled and hugged her tighter. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

With that, Karolina exploded in a mess of rainbow lights; And the two of them flew into the night sky, stuck in a firm embrace as promised. Both women, unbeknownst to each other, wore a content smile that never came off the entire trip.

**0 0 0**

* * *

Nico was a crier, though she had always wished differently, it was a simple fact that she would cry when anything remotely emotional happened that did not simply make her angry which was, thankfully, not often. But when she saw the familiar black woman standing in their lounge room with the same confident, if not arrogant, smirk they all remembered on her face, she could not bring herself to cry at the unexpected joy.

After the initial shock had worn off Molly and Klara had both ran up to the woman and started bawling their eyes out while the rest of them went up to her, one by one, to welcome her back to their ranks.

All except for Nico.

In her heart was the same overwhelming joy that no doubt nested in all of them. But unlike the others, Nico's heart held another vast emotion besides joy: Dread.

As many knew, Nico was Karolina's best friend, her oldest friend, and she knew just how broken, devastated and guilty Karolina had felt when Xavin had left with the Majesdanes to endure the punishment she was supposed to receive. It took a whole year for her to start dating again, and even then Nico was unsure if her alien friend had been truly ready for a new relationship. But that was now two years ago and in those two years Karolina had entered a surprisingly steady relationship with Julie Power, with no signs of breaking up. Nico had been, if not slightly skeptical, truly happy for her friend and had not felt the need to worry over the girl for a long time.

Until now.

"Xavin! You came back!" Molly cried in between sobs. Klara did not, or could not rather, say anything as she was too busy wiping her tears to make a coherent sentence.

"Indeed, Molly. You and Klara have grown so well. I almost did not recognize you." Xavin said in a familiar smooth tone.

"It's been awhile, Xavin," Victor greeted, putting his hand on the Skrull's shoulder. "I have to admit, I'm surprised to see you."

"Surprised Victor? You should have calculated that a Super Skrull, such as I, will always prevail, no matter the circumstance. Perhaps there are faulty wires somewhere near your processor. If you need, I can help you find it later on."

Victor half smiled, half frowned at the seriousness of the tone the comment was carried in. "Yep, definitely our Xavin huh?" The android(well, he is) gave a rather strong slap on the Prince(ss)'s back before walking back to sit on the couch he had been on before Xavin's unexpected arrival.

"I have truly... Missed you all: Molly, Klara, Chase and Old Lace, Victor, Nico but..." Xavin trailed off, an expectant smile on her face as she looked around the room.

Nico felt her heart pound at her ribcage, leaving her fidgeting as she waited for the dreaded question.

"Where is my beloved?"

Everyone fell silent. It was clear from their expression the single, unified thought that went through their mind: _Oh shit._ If the situation had been different, Nico would have laughed. But the fact was: it was not. And the person who felt were in most trouble was probably herself.

The moment dragged out, with none of the Runaways willing to meet eye to eye with the Super Skrull. Only the sound of Molly's muffled sobs as she hugged her tighter echoed in the silent lounge. After what seemed to them like hours had passed, Chase broke the awkward tension. "Uhh.. You still love her, man?"

It was a stupid question, they all knew. But at the same time, somewhere deep in their heart they wished they were wrong about the truth.

"Is this some sort of joke? It should be obvious that I do." Xavin said with a raised brow, clearly not amused, and unknowingly spreading dread through each team member.

"She's gone out." Nico said defensively, though not intentionally. The act of hiding something from one of their own had always put her in a foul mood. At least she wasn't lying. It may not have been the whole truth but a truth nonetheless.

"Then I shall leave to greet her in person." Xavin said excitedly, attempting to remove Molly from her so that she could flame up and fly to her fiance.

"No!" they all shouted together, shocking not only themselves but each other as well. But not as much as Xavin who stood with an odd expression etched on her face.

"And why not?" She asked, no doubt puzzled at their behavior. Has something happened to the lot of them while she was gone?

"She's uhh..." Chase began but was having trouble coming up with a plausible explanation.

"She's on her way back Xavin." Victor finished for him. "She said she was coming back for dinner. We're having ducks, right Klara?"

The little brunette girl, now a young teenager gasped. "The ducks! Yes, I have forgotten about them! I must go before they all burn to crisp." Then she suddenly had an idea and turned to the Skrull prince(ss), "Xavin, I know you only just returned but will you help me prepare the table?"

"But Karolina-" Xavin began but was quickly cut off when she was dragged along by the arm.

"Karolina would be here any minute now. Would she not be pleasantly surprised if you are here with a delicious meal all ready for her?"

"Would she like that?" She asked with a hopeful and unexpectedly innocent tone that weighed down on each of their guilt.

"She will love it." Klara replied with a smile.

"Then let us not waste another second." The prince(ss) stated with a determined look, never seeing the worried expression on everyone's face, as she marched off to the kitchen with Klara and Molly(who refused to let go of Xavin) in taw.

When the trio was out of earshot, the remaining members of the Runaway fell once again into a sober mood.

"Oh man." Chase muttered.

"You can say that again." Victor told him, which Chase complied.

"Oh man. What are we going to do?" The blonde asked no-one in particular, running his hands through his hair.

That was when Nico spoke. Her words carried on a grim tone, made the other's heads turn. "We do nothing."

The two young men looked to her as if she had grown a third arm which she proceeded to slice off and eat.

"What?" Victor almost screamed.

"We don't do anything." Nico repeated bitterly, not liking her idea just as much as the others. "This is their life. Their marriage. It's not our place to go in between them."

"But when Xavin finds out about-" Chase started, only to be cut off by Nico.

"When she finds out they'll have a talk, probably have a small fight... or a big one. But in the end, it's their lives. They began loving each other, and they have to be the ones to decide what to do with their relationship. And all we can do is hope for the best." The witch finished somberly, her face equally sour.

Chase seemed as though he wanted to speak, but after a moment he sighed and crashed back into his couch, tilting his head back until he faced the ceiling. "Oh dude, Xavin's gonna be so pissed."

Neither Victor nor Nico spoke, but in secret they were both thinking the same thing: 'Pissed' wouldn't even begin to describe what Xavin would feel when she found out.

**0 0 0**

* * *

The couple landed by the veranda as they always did. With a small click Karolina's bracelet was on and the rainbow glows around her faded until she was in her human form once more.

"Now then," she began, whipping her hairs back. "Let's go eat some ducks shall we?"

"Karolina Dean! You have finally fallen to the dark side! You dare suggest we go and eat actual meat?" Julie mock gasped at her girlfriend who stuck her tongue out at her.

"Just because I'm vegan doesn't mean I can't even be next to people who eat meat you know." The blonde told her, walking ahead towards the door before sliding it open.

"I know. But I really should have recorded that or something. I don't think I'll ever hear another vegan say those lines in my li..." The redhead fell silent at the odd deer-caught-in-the-headlight look on her girlfriend's face. "Kar?"

The blonde did not even make a sound of acknowledgement but continued to gape. Frowning, Julie followed her gaze to see what had caught her girlfriend's attention so, and was surprised to see a gorgeous brown haired woman, who she had never seen before, in a tight purple black suit smiling gently at Karolina in the middle of the lounge room. The Runaways were standing around, all behind the woman and out of her sight, smiling nervously at the newly arrived couple. Julie looked back at Karolina who was still in middle of gawking at the complete stranger and felt a wave of jealousy wailing down on her heart.

"Kar, honey, if you are ignoring me because you are too busy checking that woman out you are gonna be in so much tro-"

"Xavin?" Karolina spoke with a choked sob. The redhead frowned, not at the word, but at how the word was said. It was as though she could not believe what she was seeing, witnessing a miracle. She would bet the Pope would not sound so enticed if he met up with Jesus himself. "You're back?"

"Yes, beloved one, as I promised." The stranger said, making Julie whip her head at her in shock. Did she just call her Beloved one?' When she looked towards Karolina once more, she saw that the blonde had tears in her eyes, a hand over her mouth in an attempt to suppress a sob and, to her ever-growing shock, a bright smile hidden beneath her hand, the one she had only got to see when the Majesdane was_ truly_ happy.

"Karolina!" Julie called out rather loudly when her alien girlfriend began slowly walking towards the stranger, in an attempt to snap her out of this... weird trance like state. The shout did seem to work as Karolina stopped on her tracks and slowly turned towards the redhead.

Initially the Majesdane seemed shocked to see her here, as if she had truly forgotten that she was there. Then, to Julie's confusion, her surprised look turned into that of horror. The alien girl turned from the stranger, to the redhead, then back to the stranger again, the pure horror in her eyes never left. Finally Karolina spoke, in a hoarse broken whisper, "Oh god... What have I done?"

"Karolina?" Julie wanted to call out in concern but was stunned to find that the stranger had beaten her to the chase. "Are you alright, my love?"

She frowned again at the name the stranger used to call her girlfriend. However, before she could get a word in, the room was suddenly filled with a rainbow light. The Majesdane turned towards the stranger, then to the redhead and whispered two sorrow-filled words, "I'm sorry."

Then, with a blinding light the alien girl flew out of the building and into the night sky, leaving a two very stunned women and a group of Runaways with a huge headache to come.

**0 0 0**

* * *

**And there you have it!**

**I have to admit, that last part seemed a bit rushed to me but I felt that if I stayed on trying to fix it on my own, I would never publish this story. So I leave you to judge how I did for me.**

**If you haven't guessed yet my motivation for this story was the little date Karolina had planned with Julie Power in the Avenger Academy comics. When I read it I just said "FFFFFUUUUUUUU-!" and flipped the table. Hopefully I can get my frustration of seeing Karolina CHEATING on Xavin while she is getting PUNISHED in unimaginable way by the Majesdanes out of the way.**

**But any-who, please give a review, a constructive if you have the time, or just to say you liked my story. It would mean the world to me.**

**Once again thank you for reading and enjoying my story, and thank you in advance for all the reviews.**

**Hope to catch you later~  
Worms100**


	2. Chapter 2

**Firstly I must apologize to everyone who had been waiting for this chapter to come out.**

**I seem to be lagging behind just after the first chapter on all of my fics(I only wrote two but I made a few month delay on both so that's technically 'all' of them). I feel really bad for not updating sooner, I feel more like the writer's for the actual Runaway comics now. I just had this writer's block every time I touched this fic. I just couldn't write no matter how much I tried, and please believe me when I say I _really _wanted to write this.**

**But I finally did it. And I'm glad I did.**

**Now before the show starts, I must thank every single one of you who had posted review for this fic, especially the last few people who had pushed me to continue this with their words. I was flailing in my room wanting to continue this chapter too when I read your frustrated words :D**

**But yes, thank you all for leaving reviews, it was far more than I have expected seeing how small a community the Runaway section is within FFN and I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter.**

**So, off we go to the story!**

* * *

Tears blurred her vision as she flew aimlessly in midst the winter night sky. Even with the endless waves of energy she emitted the cold was beginning to etch at her nerves, building a light sheet of white frost over the tip of her fingers and feet. Soon it would reach the point where she would have to stop and warm up or risk getting several parts of her body frozen off. But she cared none for those.

Three years ago, Karolina Dean had felt what she thought to be the worst possible pain she could ever experience in her life. It was a pain that, to her shame, exceeded the pain over the loss of her parents, the loss of her best friend and watching the grieving faces of those mourning. It was the same pain she saw Chase experience, back when she did not, and could not understand its weight. It was the pain of the loss of her beloved one. The one she had promised to spend the rest of her life with. Her other half.

It took months to get over, a whole year. Perhaps it was too short. Was she a bad person for mourning her loved one for only a year? Was she evil for moving on and finding someone new? She certainly felt evil: the most evil being on earth in fact, right next to Dr Doom and Magneto. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if the person she lost wasn't actually lost. What was she thinking dating someone else when it was clear that Xavin would return?

She remembered her parents always telling her to follow her heart, to not care what the others think, and do what she felt was right. She did that. When she met Julie in the Avenger's Academy in search for their old friend she felt it in her bones that this was her time to start feeling again, to be with someone once more and feel the love flow within her wounded heart. And now look at where it led her. Guess listening to the advice of two villains who betrayed their own homeworld, and again attempted to sacrifice a whole planet for their own survival was not such a good idea.

She had always been afraid that she might become like her parents as she grew up. The things she and the others did, the whole superhero gigs they were running, she'd thought that by doing them she was taking constant step away from her worst nightmare, from the path of her twisted parents. But she was wrong. Blinded by her act to do right what her parents could not for mankind, she had managed to hurt not one, but two of her most beloved one.

She was as bad as her parents.

No.

She was worse.

"Karolina!"

The Majesdane stopped. The owner of the strained voice calling out to her was familiar to her. Of course it was familiar. It was her girlfriend, Julie. _Probably ex-girlfriend now. _The blonde thought bitterly. The voice that normally brought Karolina to smile with glee was now pouring frozen terror down her spine like a bucket of ice.

Why did she follow her? Was she there to officially end it with her? To tell her how much of a scumbag bitch she was? She'll probably give her a good slap as well. Karolina didn't even want to turn around. She was still too busy beating herself up.

As it turned out though, she didn't need to turn around at all, because before she could even make a jerk of movement she was propelled forward by Julie when she collided with her in a heavy body slam. After a few tumble the rainbow girl managed to gain her bearings, making her and the girl in her arms to hover steadily in mid-air, and was able to look down at her girlfriend properly.

To the alien girl's horror, Julie was in a shivering fit, her skin deathly pale with patches of thin white frost forming over her face, hair and clothes. It was obvious that the girl had been flying for quite some time, and while Karoline was a being made of energy, Julie was merely a young human adult with no other methods of protecting herself from the cold besides her winter coat. The mere idea of flying in this weather was suicidal.

"Oh my god, Julie!" Karolina screamed, her eyes filling with terror when the strawberry blonde only gave stiff jerks of movement as her reply.

The sound of her quick, shallow breathing echoed in the rainbow girl's ears but she barely saw any steam coming out of the strawberry blonde's mouth.

_Damn it, _thought Karolina. _Her lungs are frozen._

Quickly creating a barrier to stop the winds, Karolina embraced the freezing girl and began gently descending down to the ground. Flying was too risky at the moment. Her barrier was not stable enough to stay solid during high speed flights when she was carrying another completely immobile person, and they sure as hell couldn't walk to any building because...

Karolina looked at her surroundings.

...Because they were standing on a small cay barely the size of a house, miles away from the main city. This was getting better and better.

"K-Kar?"

The hoarse whisper, snapped Karolina's attention back to the girl in her arms. Julie's droopy eyes were focused onto hers.

"Julie." The Majesdane sighed with obvious relief which then quickly turned to anger, "What the hell were you thinking flying around in this weather like that!?" She scolded the Strawberry blonde, but could not stop the tears forming around her eyes as her words came out in an odd mix of sniffs and sobs. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

As warm tears fell on the human's face, Julie lifted her trembling hands and caressed Karolina's cheek with a light smile. "H-Had to see you." She said in a hoarse whisper. "Saw you cry."

"You followed me just because of that?" Karolina sobbed again. _Even after what I did?_

"You were hurt. Made me sad." Julie spoke after several shakes and pained moans, her shivering words thawing bit by bit. "Don't cry. Seeing you cry, hurts me... in more ways than you can ever fathom. I love you. I'll do anything for you."

The rainbow teen watched the girl in her arms smile, and could not help but to pull her into a deep embrace as another set of tears began flowing from her eyes.

"You're such a dork." She muttered to her girlfriend's ears. "That was so corny."

"It was romantic, though?" Julie asked weakly, returning the embrace the best as she could.

"Yeah... it was. You're so sweet." Karolina gave a small peck on the cold girl's face. "Come on, I'll call Nico and we'll get you somewhere warm real soon." She quickly wiped her eyes before she reached for her phone only to be stopped when an ice cold hand grabbed her wrist tightly.

"Don't." Julie shivered. "Just... hold me..."

Slightly surprised at the request, Karolina looked down at the shivering girl then to the phone inside her hand. She thought about what would happen if she called Nico now, what her reaction would be when she came to see them, what she would bring with her, _who _she would bring.

With a fearful gulp, the blonde slid the phone back inside her pocket. She then looked down at Julie once more, expression contorting in shared pain as the girl in her arms shivered. Karolina, not knowing what else to do, did just as Julie asked and held the girl tight with all the love she had, an uncertain frown donning her face all the while.

* * *

"Unhand me this instant!"

Xavin's voice rang out the house like a thunder clap. Chase and Molly, who were latched on to the Skrull prince(ss)' male form's each arms, grit their teeth once more as their eardrums were assaulted by her roar at a point blank range. The others were standing by the exits, poised to strike in case the enraged Skrull managed to escape her hold. All except for Nico, who was standing in the center of it all, her arms crossed over her chest, not a few meter away from the rampaging alien.

"Calm down Xavin." She ordered with an exasperated look. "I don't want to use a magic spell and end up having to think another spell on the fly during an actually fight."

Xavin thrashed her arms in attempt to fling off her two captors, then barred her teeth at the witch when it failed. "Your spells will have no reason of being wasted if you would all simply release me and let me follow Karolina!" She growled like a rabid dog.

Nico winced and almost took a step back when the slight amount of spit that flew across the room, landing only a foot away from her. She had almost forgotten that Xavin's occasional bout of rage involved a simultaneous bout of unhygienic savagery as well.

The skrull prince(ss) had been at her fit ever since Karolina abruptly left in tears with Julie in tow. When it happened, naturally, Xavin made for pursuit for her fiancé, but the Runaways, who had one of their very rare occasions where they acted on the exact same idea without any verbal communication, jumped at the skrull and stopped her before she could leave. They had yet to tell Xavin the truth. It probably was for the best to keep her and Karolina separated for now.

Nico sighed as she tried to rub her headache away. She had made a small plan promising herself that, when Karolina came back, she'll get the group to momentarily leave the house to give the alien couple some time to figure this problem out on their own. That plan obviously went down the drain when Karolina came back with Julie in tow, and then _ran away_ when she saw her old love standing around in their living room.

It was all so much like those cheap romantic TV-films. Nico wanted to scoff at the whole situation, and scold Karolina for running like a damn coward. But she understood the amount of drama Karolina must be feeling right now. If she was ever in a similar situation, Nico probably would have done the same thing.

It was good that Julie could fly. Karolina needed comfort right now and while Nico wasn't sure if Julie was the best person to provide her that, she was glad at least _someone_ could. _At least it isn't Xavin, that's for sure. _The witch thought as she glanced at the livid skrull. _Karolina's probably already having a terrible time coping with this, she doesn't need a frantic fiancé to be with her as well._

"Look Xavin, we'll let you go see Karolina in due time, but we're not going to do that until you calmdown first." Nico said.

Xavin scoffed at her words. "How can you stand there and demand calmness from me when I have witnessed my beloved shed her tears?! I must go to her, now!"

The witch sighed once more, but didn't continue her argument with the skrull knowing that unless it was Karolina speaking to her it was impossible to talk her out of anything. Instead, Nico turned to Chase and Molly and simply told them to release their captive.

The duo looked at her as though she had lost her mind.

"What?"

"You sure?"

They spoke at the same time, which made Nico scowl with annoyance.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I know what I'm doing." She retorted with a huff.

Chase and Molly gave each other a small shrug. With a silent count of three, the two simultaneously released their hold on the super skrull and jumped a good few meters away, just far enough to avoid being burnt when Xavin went up in flames.

That was when Nico swung her staff.

"_CSI MIAMI: IN SPACE."_

As soon as the booming, enchanted words left her mouth a coat of what seemed to be a thick, fireproof blanket wrapped itself around Xavin, effectively extinguishing her flames. As the super skrull struggled to free herself from the magical fabrics there were several clicks and Xavin fell down like a timber wood on to the ground where she squirmed around under the blanket as though bound by something.

When Chase ran up to her and lifted the blanket off, everyone (besides Nico) were surprised to find several lime green handcuffs of various sizes restraining Xavin's arms behind her back and her legs closed.

Chase gave the witch an odd look (imagine Jackie Chan's _My Mind Is Full Of Fuck _expression).

"It's CSI MIAMI." Nico explained coolly. "You know, police stuff."

"And the 'IN SPACE' part?" Victor asked with an equally confused look as Chase, or anyone else in the room in fact.

She shrugged, "Its... special. Alien-proof. Xavin won't be able to use her power to get out."

"Uh-huh, right."

"Why are you doing this!?" Xavin roared at the gang with seething fury, snapping them out of their stupor over the spell. "You've all seen it. Karolina is hurt! Why are you stopping me? Why aren't any of you trying to help her? You've only let that other female follow her!"

Silence befell the group at the skrull prince(ss)' questions, every member suddenly wearing solemn expression as they all stared at the floor as though in regret. If it hadn't been obvious before, Xavin was now certain her friends were keeping a secret from her. Something so dire it made them act in this odd manner. A secret about Karolina.

"What are you keeping from me?" The skrull spat at the Nico, her eyes ablaze.

The gothic witch gave a light wince at the question, and again when everyone turned towards her for answer. This was the part she hated about being the leader: everyone expected you to know the answer.

"Are you going to tell her?" Victor asked her with worry.

She scowled in silence for a moment before shaking her head. "I shouldn't, Karolina should be the one telling her."

"But she ran away." Klara pitched in, then added solemnly. "And she is with Julie now, in both sense of the word."

"What do you mean by that?" Xavin shifted her gaze to the girl, but was promptly ignored by the group.

"We still can't tell her. This isn't something we can just do without anyone's permission. We don't have any rights." Nico reasoned with them.

"Then what _are_ we going to do? Just leave Xavin cuffed up until Karolina and Julie come back? She _ran away_, Nico. We don't even know if she's coming back." Chase argued, his hand running through his hair in mild frustration. But his frustrations were miniscule compared to what was burning inside Xavin's chest.

"I will not stand being ignored! Who is this 'Julie'?" Xavin voiced then grinded her teeth hard when she was ignored again.

"Don't be dramatic." Nico quipped at the blonde, though her weak tone seemed to give away her true thoughts. "You know that's not going to happen. Karolina's not the type of person to leave things like this."

"Yeah, but she's never been in a situation like this before. None of us have." Chase stated, his tone now much softer, but still carrying the weight that pressed down on the witch's heart. "You don't know what she'll do."

"Neither do you." Nico snapped in a hoarse whisper but didn't continue.

"Will someone, _please_, tell me what you are all talking about?!" Xavin's roar boomed through the group once more, and as was before, her calls were met with silen-

"Julie's Karolina's lover."

Xavin, as well as the entire Runaways gang snapped their head towards the source of the voice so fast it was a wonder how none of them weren't injured.

"What?" Xavin's voice was flat, barely a whisper that would have gone unnoticed if the room hadn't been so silent as it was now.

"Julie's Karolina's lover." Molly repeated, her bottom lips puckered out in to a stubborn, but quivering, pout, her arms crossed over her chest in mock confidence. At fifteen years old, Molly was starting to grow into a beautiful young adult, but as they say, it seemed her old habits died hard.

Nico glared at the girl with anger and disbelief. "Molly, what the hell?!" She snapped at the girl, but, despite her shaking lips and tearing eyes, the mutant girl stood her ground.

"We're being mean to her." Molly muttered softly. "She hasn't seen Karolina for three years. She so worried about her right now. She just wants to see her again. She loves her so much. She deserves to know." The mutant girl trailed off, tears freely flowing from her eyes now.

"But this isn't right. We shouldn't be the one to tell her this. It's not our-""Silence, Witch."

Nico gave a momentary pause, not believing that she had just been cut off mid-sentence by someone. The group turned back towards the super skrull who had managed to pick herself up and place herself into a kneeling position.

Normally, Nico never would have let anyone go after they had the guts to interrupt her talk, but despite being bound immobile, the level of pure, murderous gleam in Xavin's eyes made the witch, as well as everyone else in the room, fall to a stunned silence.

The skrull princess rolled her eyes towards Molly, making the girl pale from the sudden chill running down her spine.

"Tell me." Xavin's voice was like a soft blizzard, hushed whisper promising nothing but slow, subtle, numbing death. It made everyone in the room shiver just from hearing it. "Tell me everything."

Molly, unable to handle the pressure, looked away from the skrull and towards Nico who looked back at her with an equally pale look on her face.

"She deserves to know." The young girl quietly repeated, making the witch groan with frustration when everyone, including Xavin, turned to her for answers.

Nico looked at each of the Runaway's expectant face, entrusting her with the courage to go through with _this_, this _situation._ There was no way out of it. She was going to have to do it: Tell Xavin the truth, without knowing what her reaction would be. Actually, from how she was acting now, it was easy to gauge how well the super skrull would take the news. This was _not _going to go well.

_I just hope Karolina forgives me for this. _Nico thought before adding bitterly, _I hate being the leader._

* * *

The pair was quiet, each enjoying each other's presence in silence as they shared their warmth with each other. Comfortable, despite their circumstances.

Karolina stared at the ocean with a bitter frown, desperately wishing they could remain like this forever, just the two of them without any worries. It was ridiculous, she knew, and soon she would have to face the music, all the consequences of her thoughtlessness. But right now she just hoped it could wait for a bit. Let her enjoy this moment just for a bit longer.

Just a bit longer.

The cold ocean wind swept past the two women and brought the chilled winter touch deep within their bones. "Auugh," Julie groaned, digging herself deeper into the Majesdane's embrace. "It's cold. Where are we right now?"

"On the beach... sort of." Karolina replied rather uncertainly. "We're on a cay a few miles out. We really should get you to a hospital."

Julie ignored the suggestion, "Ugh, why were you flying out to the ocean?"

"I..." Karolina bit her lips. "I don't know. I guess I wasn't thinking properly."

There was a moment of uncomfortable pause before Julie spoke.

"Were you..." She stopped for a slow breath, and then turned her head towards the blonde so that their eyes met. "Were you thinking about that woman?"

Karolina tensed as her eyes filled with sheer terror. She knew Julie saw and felt her fears, yet the strawberry blonde stared on with her tired eyes, pushing the rainbow girl for a straight answer.

"I-I..." Karolina could not withstand the look and turned away, "Yes."

The Majesdane winced, not wanting to hear the question about to be thrown at her, not ready to face the inevitable question:

_'Who is she?' _

But to her surprise, it never came. Even after a whole minute she had given her, Julie never said a word, or even open her mouth. Confused, Karolina looked down at her girlfriend, who merely watched her with a passive expression.

"Aren't you going to ask?" She asked, her eyes watering again from fear.

Julie gave a long look before she spoke, "You don't want me to, right?"

Karolina was shocked. "But aren't you curious?"

"I am." Julie muttered, but then caressed the blonde's cheek softly. "But I'm not going to force you. You were crying so much before. I've never seen you like that. If telling me the truth is going to hurt you that much then I'd rather not hear it. I love you too much to make you do that."

Karolina suddenly felt the wind getting knocked out of her. She had been so certain that Julie would confront her regarding Xavin, scream at her and leave her a blubbering mess as she walked out of her life. The thoughts of the inevitable interrogation had festered at the bottom of the rainbow girl's heart like maggots crawling inside her. But Julie wasn't going to ask. And instead of relieved Karolina felt evermore guiltier for what she had done.

Here was her girlfriend who loved her so much that she had risked her own life to comfort her in her time of need, and set aside her undoubtedly overwhelming curiosity over the questionable relationship between her and Xavin just to keep her happy, while Karolina ran away from her problems with her tails tucked between her legs the moment she was confronted with them.

She felt so undeserving of all this love she was receiving. It wasn't as though she went around her back to cheat on her but it felt no different. She had _cheated_ on Xavin, and Julie was her unintended Mistress.

God, she was so goddamn selfish.

"Julie I'm so sor-" Karolina began but was unable to finish her sentence when the girl in her arm was violently yanked away from her by an unseen force.

Julie, shocked and impaired by her sudden airborne state, landed on to the sand with a loud thud and skidded across the beach until eventually she stopped several feet away from Karolina, dangerously close to the freezing ocean water.

Karolina frantically searched for the attacker, but saw nothing but the vast ocean and the city in the distance. However, the presence of another being was given away by the loud stomping moving across the cay. Towards Julie who was currently struggling to get back up on her feet.

"Julie! Xavin, stop!" Karolina screamed, realizing who the attacker was.

As though in response the super skrull's body slowly faded into vision, revealing her hulking stature as she utilized the Thing's power. Xavin had her back to Karolina as she trudged across the sand.

Karolina who had intended to shout out to her fiancé to seize her actions instead let out a horrified scream as the skrull swung down her enlarged stone fist onto her girlfriend's body. To her tremendous relief though, she never heard a loud crunch of bones or saw the splash of dark red blood. Instead she saw from the corner of her eyes a solid stream of rainbow flashing around the beach and crash land a good distance away from Xavin. Karolina's cry for Julie was drowned out by Xavin's roar. The raw, savage anger carried by the howl seemed to shake the entire cay.

"Xavin," Karolina called out to the now sauntering skrull, blocking her way towards the human girl. "Xavin. Please, don't!"

Karolina pleaded desperately but Xavin seemed to neither see nor hear her as her pupil-less eyes glared hatefully at Julie.

"How _dare _you!" The skrull boomed, making the blonde flinch despite the fact that she was not the one being spoken to. "You dare lay your hand on my beloved?"

"Please." Karolina breathed out her futile plea, now standing right before her old betrothed, her frame petite against Xavin's transmorphed form.

"You dare think to take her from me? You think to shame me by wooing her in my absence?"

"Xavin. God. Please, just stop."

"I will crush you insolent maggot!"

"Karolina!"

The Majesdane blinked for a moment. The new voice calling out to her was not Xavin's or Julie's. She turned towards the sky where she saw the Leapfrog slowly descending down on to the beach. Usually, the appearance of her friends put the alien girl at ease but right now, her friends just didn't seem enough.

"I'm so sorry, Kar." Nico spoke through the intercom, "I thought I had her restrained. I didn't think she could break out of her hold using brute strength alone."

At the mention of Xavin, Karolina realized with a start that her fiancé was no longer before her, seemingly having gone around her during her momentary distraction. The moment she turned around Karolina felt her heart drop when she saw Xavin pointing her burning hands towards the lying girl, seconds away from burning Julie up alive.

Luckily, at that moment, Julie flew upwards, striking the skrull's face with a powerful upper cut. The momentum behind the flight, despite how short it was, put enough force to push the super skrull back, albeit only a step. Turning around, the power girl flew down a few feet away from the skrull again, this time managing to stand feebly on her feet instead of crashing like before.

At once Xavin was on her, charging towards the human who had tried to steal Karolina from her like a crazed bull. Being far more prepared than last time, Julie flew sideways before quickly turning to the opposite direction to deliver a snapping kick to the skrull's face. She disappeared immediately after, blinking away in a pink flash then reappearing behind Xavin to deliver a knee strike to the back of her head. She landed a bit further off, her wobbly legs barely supporting her slumped figure.

Xavin shook her head, temporarily disoriented by the repeated strikes to the head. Disregarding the light spinning though, the super skrull charged again. Unlike her previous attempt, only half way towards her target, Xavin's form faded away to the air, her booming footsteps no longer shaking the ground.

It was too late for Julie when she figured out what had just happened. The strawberry blonde was struck from the side by something hot and solid, like a brick wall on fire. Having been caught off guard, and being already spent from her flight, Julie tumbled on the sand like a rag doll. Once she came to a halt, she lay there motionlessly, conscious but worn-out. The loud thuds alerted her of the incoming skrull, but she did not even have the energy to lift a finger.

When Xavin came up to her target, she simply raised her fist. Her face remained furious, and her mouth slammed shut. Despite how infuriated she was, Xavin had nothing to say to the human. She was an object. Nothing more. This human was no enemy of hers. There was no honor in this fight. She was merely doing right where she was wronged.

This wasn't a battle.

This was an execution.

With a snort of bitter humor, Xavin swung her fist down with all intends to kill.

"STOP!"

With a flash of rainbow the super skrull unexpectedly found herself being thrown back, landing ungracefully on the sand. With a savage roar she stood up, her arm a jagged orange boulder poised to deliver a deadly strike that would finish that insolent woman. However, she was at once put to a halt when she saw none other than her beloved Karolina holding the human in her arms, covering her from her attacks.

For a moment, Xavin stood stunned and confused, but soon the shock turned to rage that made her body physically burn with scorching flames. As furious roar rang out the dark beach-side, Karolina could not help but feel a bead of cold sweat trailing down her face.

"Is this what you choose?" Her fiancé shook with anger, her pupil-less eyes gleaming with fury.

Karolina, realizing her moment to choose between her two lovers, questioned herself as well.

_Was _this what she chose? Was this what she wanted? Did she choose Julie over Xavin? She didn't dare look down at her current girlfriend in fear that it would provoke Xavin to strike, but she felt the girl in her arms, cuddling ever so slightly deeper into her breasts, sending small waves of love and warmth through her system, even now as she faced her former lover. Her former lover. Is that what Xavin was? Yes. At the moment, definitely. But is that what she wanted Xavin to be?

What did she really want?

It was question she just did not have an answer for.

But for the skrull warrior the silence seemed to have been an answer enough.

The fire around Xavin's body died down and she returned to her human female form. Despite the long brown hair covering the skrull's expression, Karolina saw no more anger, no more hate in the suddenly small figure. Everything was so very quiet. Karolina found herself holding her breathe as if in waiting but the skrull, looking ever-so defeated, merely sagged her shoulder, and turned wordlessly away from her betrothed.

Karolina watched as her old love walked away. The trudging figure looked unexpectedly small in comparison to how she remembered her.

"Xavin, wait!" Karolina thought she had shouted, but blinked when she realized the one who had called out was Molly who had came out from the Leapfrog along with everyone else, and who was now running towards Xavin in her supposed place.

Karolina watched mutely, not knowing what to say, as the young girl caught up to her ex-fiancé. Molly grabbed onto Xavin's arm and their eyes seemed to meet. The girl's expression appeared to abruptly freeze as she looked up at Xavin's own. Her hands hesitantly slid off her arm until they hung loosely by her sides.

Xavin stood still for a moment watching the child next to her fidget under her gaze. Then soundlessly she resumed walking, her form slowly fading into transparency as she did, until she disappeared completely. A slight surge in the air alerted everyone of a fire igniting and a distant whoosh told them that their old friend was gone from them.

Again.

A hushed sob broke the long silence. Everyone, especially Karolina who found her eyes dry of tears, turned to Molly quizzically as small beads of tears began flowing down her cheeks. Klara was next to her in moments, comforting her friend as she continued to cry in silence.

Immediately Karolina joined the young girl, tears soundlessly streaming down her cheeks as she gently lifted the now unconscious Julie in her arms and made her way towards the Leapfrog. Her friends were mute. None bothered to say a single word of support, or scorn, but simply let the Majesdane walk past them. One by one, the Runaways followed her inside the ship and soon they were off in the air hovering towards the city and the hospital.

For the first time in a while the Leapfrog flew in silence, undisturbed by the world underneath. Karolina looked out the window with tear stained, yet stoic expression. And Nico, watching her friend with worry, couldn't help but wonder about the future, knowing that this drama was surely far from over.

* * *

**Aaaand there you have it.**

**I'm not really sure how well this whole chapter flowed since I had a huge time gap (like a few weeks) between writing each section but I'm just glad to have been able to finish it. **

**Also I made a bit of a mistake with Julie Powers with her character. She wasn't a redhead, she's STRAWBERRY BLONDE D:**

**And apparently she can teleport according to marvel wikia. I don't really know much about her character so forgive me if I get things wrong.**

**Well anyway, now you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see what happens. (MUHAHAHA) **

**But don't worry about another long delay as I'm very determined to finish this fic (I still love Runaways very much!), and I'll post an update for the next chapter within one month time at the latest.(I really hope I can.)**

**Please leave a review, a constructive one if you have the time, favorite or follow if you can, they all mean so much to me and every review/fav/follower makes my day :D**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and until next time~  
****WhiteWorms100**


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